


Letting it Snow

by PopsAfterDark (knittersrevolt)



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Bughead Secret Santa, Christmas Fluff, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Investigations, Road Trips, Sleeping in the car, Snowed In
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:21:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22059244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knittersrevolt/pseuds/PopsAfterDark
Summary: In order to persue her dreams of writing a book about The Black Hood Betty has to accept the help of Jughead Jones. A road trip through the snow? Having to cuddle for body heat? They hate each other but end up in love??A holiday fic for the Bughead Secret Santa exchange.
Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 17
Kudos: 115
Collections: Bughead Secret Santa





	Letting it Snow

**Author's Note:**

  * For [secretsofthesky](https://archiveofourown.org/users/secretsofthesky/gifts).



“Oh no, really,” Betty pleaded with the editor in chief, “I don’t need another writer to come with me. I can do it all on my own.”

Alicia was a severe looking woman who held the world’s best poker face. Betty had no idea which way the woman was leaning, but she was certain her pleas fell on deaf ears.

“Betty, you are untested. Yes, this publishing company bought the rights to the book on your father, but what we were looking for was your perspective. Your writing skills remain to be seen. So, you will go with the only member of this staff who has written a successful book on the subject.”

“You don’t mean-”

Through the door behind her Betty’s arch nemesis walked in. The only person on Earth who filled her with hate on sight. As he walked in they met each other with matching glares.

Betty turned fully around in her chair to stare determinedly out at the falling snow. It was gorgeous. Thick and heavy, it had been falling in waves all morning. God, how she loved snow. The blanket of calm it coated the entire world with. She even loved the dirty brown slush that would coat the streets as tires ran through it.

“Jughead Jones,” he said without holding his hand for her to shake. He just slumped himself down in the chair next to her as if it was nothing.

“Yeah, I remember,” she responded icily.

“Good, now that everyone’s acquainted. Jughead’s book on The Black Hood was on the NYT bestseller’s list for weeks. With your insight, and his writing, I think that yours can do even better.”

“Or she could just give me her notes and talk to me and I can write a sequel.”

“Or he could give me absolutely nothing and stay out of my family business and I’ll give you a book that will stay at the top of every list for months.”

“It’s not your family business anymore if daddy dearest starts running around murdering people.”

“It is family business when you stake out our house and hound my mother and sister for interviews.

“Interviews they were willing to give. You’re the one who-”

“Enough.” Alicia was one of those people whose voice, even when calm, held weight to it. “If either of you wants to keep a job with this publishing house, you’ll work together. Betty, I hear you have new leads. Let Jughead help you develop them. Jughead, Betty’s name will be the only one on the cover of the book if you decide to take those leads and run off on your own. Betty, you will make progress and give us new information or we rescind our offer. Take it or leave it.”

They both wanted to argue but bit their tongues. Through clenched teeth Jughead asked, “When and where do you want us to start?”

“Unfortunately the higher ups want this book out in the second quarter of this year, which means there is no time to spare. You have two weeks to give me tangible progress.”

That made them both explode out of their chairs. 

“But it’s the 22nd of December!” she argued, “I won’t be able to do anything before the New Year! I have family obligations.”

“For once we agree on something, this has to wait for the New Year.”

For the first time Alicia’s face lost its calm into a mask of annoyance. “You want to make this work? Then work. If family and holidays and all that bullshit is more important to you, well, once you leave this office I can’t control where you go. A rental car will be available tomorrow morning right outside this building. Both of you go or neither of you do. Now if you’ll excuse me, your book isn’t the only one I have to take a meeting about today.”

+++++++++++++++++

“So. Here we are. In a car. Together.” Betty was at least trying. She may not have wanted Jughead along, but the least he could do was attempt to socialize. She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. Traffic was insane, meaning it’d be at least an hour before they were even out of the city.

“Yup.”

“Are you planning on just glaring out that window for the next few days?”

“Yup. Unless you’ve changed your mind about letting me know where we’re going so I can spend my time Googling it and preparing. Alicia did tell you to share your leads with me.”

“She did, but she also doesn’t know that if I don’t, you’re still way too stubborn to tattle on me and get this project shut down.”

  
  


Their rental car was a two door sedan that was edging on twenty years old. It wasn’t big enough for both of their attitudes. Betty in her pink fuzzy sweater with white reindeer on the front was in direct contrast to his black outfit with one maroon S on his t-shirt to break up the monotony. He was slumped with his back so low he could rest one knee on the glove compartment. She resisted the urge to tell him his seatbelt wouldn’t be terribly efficient in that position.

He scoffed. “Right, I’m the stubborn one here. We could avoid this whole mess if you would just give me what you have and let me ghost write. No one will know, your name will be all shiny on the cover, and you’ll still get a shit ton of money.”

“I’ll know! And despite what you might think of me, I’m a writer! A good one! So no, I’m not telling you anything until I think you’ve earned it. And right now I think the way you’re going to earn it is by listening to some Christmas songs.”

She clicked on a station she knew was going for festivities 24/7. He clicked it off, then slumped back.

She clicked it on.

He clicked it off.

“I’M THE DRIVER AND THE DRIVER PICKS THE MUSIC!” She pressed the button then hovered her hand to smack his away as he tried again to switch it off.

“I’M THE PASSENGER AND I WILL GO INSANE!”

“Fine! Awesome! I’ll drop you on the corner and we’ll just tell Alicia you came along!” She said cheerfully and began maneuvering the car to the right lane. “Enjoy your holidays.”

“Oh no no! Not so fast! You’re just trying to get rid of me! Well think again, Princess, I’m not going anywhere.”

He cranked up the volume and sang loudly along to Oh Holy Night. To Betty’s annoyance, it wasn’t terrible. He could only keep up the volume of his singing for about ten minutes though. After that it just turned into under his breath humming with the occasional lyric popping in. 

There were no actual words exchanged between the two of them until Jughead sat ramrod straight in his seat to say, “Betty? Hey, Betty? This is the Interstate  _ south _ ramp. Riverdale is  _ north _ of here.”

“I know that Riverdale is north of here.”

“But you’re on the south ramp! Look right here! Dammit, you missed it! Now we have to pull a U-y. I’ll pull my Google Maps up. That was seriously incompetent. I knew I should have driven.”

With smug pep Betty informed him that she meant to go south. Jughead looked up from his phone to stare at her dumbfounded.

“How? Why? Your father’s family is tied to Riverdale going back generations. He was born there. He grew up there. He married a Riverdale girl. He had Riverdale children.”

“Yes, and we are headed to the south.”

His eyes narrowed. “You mean we are headed south. Because what I think you just said is we are headed to The South, and in America that means you plan on crossing the Mason-Dixon line.”

“Now you’re catching on.”

“Jesus Christ, what the actual f-” Jughead began muttering under his breath as he slumped back into his seat. From the radio Trans-Siberian Orchestra blared.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

His patience lasted longer than she thought it would. He asked if she would tell him where they were going when they stopped for lunch four hours in. When she didn’t give him a definitive answer he decided to just be stoic. He knew that his annoyance was like a nice warm hug to her ego, so he just sat quietly through another three hours of driving. When they passed Roanoke, Virginia, the only place on Earth that Hal was even minorly connected to through long lost cousins, he bit his tongue. When she merged onto I-40 W towards Nashville he looked like he was about to speak up, but then put his headphones back in place and slumped down once more. 

Finally, when they had been in the car for about 10 hours, he burst. “Okay, this is a joke, right? You’ve decided to see how far I’m going to let you take me before I tell you to stop and turn the car around? Well guess what, I’m not giving in! Not now, not ever!”

“Yeah,” Betty yawned, “I figured. Don’t worry.”

“Well, I’m not worried! I do however seriously have to pee and I am not eating more gas station snacks, so you’re going to have to pull over at a real restaurant. And you’re paying!”

“They gave us a per diem. The publishing company is paying.”

“YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!”

They were just past Baileyton, TN which meant the stretch of road they were on was only populated by Chili’s and Applebees. She was almost surprised to see that he took off his headphones to eat dinner with her. He’d been wearing them for nearly seven hours. Maybe he just needed to let his ears breathe a bit.

They sat in silence reading their menus. They both ordered food that would come out bland and possibly cold.

“Gosh, it sure is dead in here tonight.” Betty said into the uncomfortable silence.

“It is almost nine.” 

“You don’t have to use that tone. I’m just trying to make conversation.”

He just continued to shred his napkin into oblivion. 

“Look, we’re over halfway there. Why don’t we just get ourselves some rooms for the night and set out fresh in the mor-”

“No. No no no no no no no. Halfway? Did you just say halfway? As in we have passed the midway point of this trip, but not by a significant portion?”

“Yes, that is how math works.”

Jughead pounded his fists on the table so hard their waters jumped. The one waitress and the man wiping down glasses behind the bar both turned to stare at them.

“Okay, you know what? I’ve tried to be nice-”

“No you haven’t.” Betty countered. 

“Fine, but I haven’t been outright hostile, but at this point I’m about to be. I’m not staying at a hotel in this God forsaken state. I had a long nap along the east coast, which means you are going to tell me where we are going and why, and then you’re going to let me drive while you sleep.”

She could see that he meant it, and it wasn’t the worst idea in the world. “Can’t I just tell you to stay on I-40 until dawn?”

“No,” he growled at her, “I’m not trying to be a team, but just be fucking reasonable.”

“Fine,” she snapped at him, then put on a polite smile as their food was delivered. Mountains of plates were placed in front of her slim companion. She watched in awe as he began to devour it.

“Well?” he asked through a mouthful of both burger and onion rings.

“Arkansas. We’re headed to Arkansas. And I’m only telling you that much because it’s the 23rd and I want to be home for Christmas.”

“And what exactly are you hoping to find in Arkansas?” 

“That’s need to know.”

“Trust me, Betty. I really freaking need to know.” 

This was her life’s work. All of what she’d spent the last five years doing. Late, lonely nights of research giving up any hope of having a life, of having a boyfriend, of having any human connection. In front of her was a man who she considered an adversary. A smart, kind of sexy in a bad-boy wrong tracks kind of way, nemesis asking her to give up all of those hours to him. If she hadn’t been so tired or he hadn’t looked so determined (and handsome), she probably could have held out.

“Fine. When I was little my Dad would go every year to this journalism conference in Arkansas. Mom called it his, ‘Dad away weekend’. I never thought anything of it. Even after the arrest.”

Betty leaned in and dropped her voice to a whisper as she pulled an article out of her pocket. Jughead mirrored her and took it while glancing around furtively.

It was about a girl who went missing in 2012. She and her boyfriend had been interrupted mid-coitus in their car by a man with a ski mask on. The boy barely survived his stab wounds, and the girl was never seen again.

“I don’t know, Betts. Seems kind of thin to me.” Even as he said it Jughead was still re-reading every word.

“Don’t call me Betts. Look, I know it might seem like a long shot, but the timeline fits. There’s dozens of these. At least two similar disappearances in the week he was down there every single year for a decade. I think this may have been another hunting ground. A place to perfect his technique before he started killing in Riverdale. This is the only instance where there was a survivor.”

“Jesus.” Jughead looked positively sick. Not sick enough not to put a mini-taco into his mouth, though. “This is huge, Betts. This could double his body count. Crap, I have to call my sister and tell her Christmas is cancelled.”

“I told you not to call me that. And why cancel? One day down, one day there, one day back. We’ll be in New York for Christmas dinner if we drive all night.”

His eye roll was slow, and obviously for her benefit. “You think you can just bring up that your father may have been killing in a whole new state and do all the investigating you need in just one day?”

“I’m not some silly naive little girl you need to condescend to, Jughead. I don’t need to get all of my investigating in. I just need enough proof to show Alicia that I have a lead.”

“And what kind of proof do you think you can find in one day?”

Betty shifted uncomfortably. “I’m not willing to share that yet.”

Jughead threw his body back against the thin pleather of the booth.. He ran agitated fingers through his hair then down over his face. “How? How can anyone fit this much stubborn into someone so small?”

“I’m not that small, and if you were in my spot, would you really be giving everything you have to me?”

He huffed a small conciliatory laugh. “No, if I were you I would have excused myself to the restroom and left through the back.”

Her mouth gaped open. “You’d just strand me this far from home?”

He shrugged. “Hey, you’re the one who asked.”

“I can’t believe there are people who actually like you. Do you have friends? You’re the literal actual worst.”

“Right back at you, Blondie.”

++++++++++++

Betty awoke to the terrifying sensation of the car sliding out of control. In the split second her eyes opened all she could see was the onslaught of snow reflecting the headlights before a puff of white powder exploded over the hood and she was flung against her seatbelt.

As she tried to orient herself she heard the roar of a truck passing them by. Jughead laid on the horn in response.

“What happened?”

“That asshole was tailgating us in the middle of this blizzard and when we hit ice he couldn’t slow down and ran us off the road.” Jughead was already out of his seatbelt and had his door open.

It didn’t take Betty long to realize her side of the car was wedged shut by the snow bank in the ditch. She crawled over the console to get out the driver’s side door. She couldn’t believe how fast the snow was coming down. Just standing there she could barely see five feet in front of her. It was hard to even spot Jughead on the other side of the sedan.

“FUCK!” Jughead roared at the sky.

“Is it really that bad?” She rubbed at her bleary eyes and yawned.

“Yes, Princess, it really is that bad. All four of our tires are on snow. They are shitty, non-snow tires. We are pointed downward into the ditch. Unless you have a shovel we can’t move all this snow, and even if we could I doubt we’d get tire traction. My cell phone has no service because the storm has knocked out cell towers everywhere, and even if I did, I bet that every tow truck in 50 miles is already busy due to this SHITSHOW OF A STORM!”

At least he was yelling at the snow, and not at her, she reasoned. It didn’t take long for her to confirm that she also had no service. She turned off the car then piled into the back seat.

“Why would you turn the car off?”

“To conserve gas. We’re looking at an overnight stay. We can run it every hour or so if we get cold.” 

She left him outside to curse at the world for a while longer as she started packing on layers of shirts and a second pair of socks. She heard more than saw him thump back into the driver’s seat.

“You’re in the back seat.” 

“Excellent observation.”

“So, you’re just expecting me to sleep up here?” Jughead grumbled.

“I don’t mind if you recline the seat.”

He clenched his jaw so tight she could practically hear it. There was another gust of frozen air as he went back into the cold. 

When the door by her feet opened she screeched, “What are you doing?!”

“Sleeping in the back. Everyone knows that body heat is the best solution to problems like this. The front will be uncomfortable and cold as hell. So how do you want to do this? Feet to face?”

“We can’t both fit back here!” She tried to argue, but he was still coming in, his body looming over hers. A thick black boot covered in snow began advancing toward her face. She slapped it away.

“Who tries sleeping feet to face in a car wearing wet boots, you jerk?”

She got kneed and elbowed as he turned himself around. “I didn’t hear you offering the other way around.”

“That’s because it should be no way around! It should be you up front and me back here alone.”

“Well, that’s not happening, and this is.” He flopped down with his back to her face, squishing her into the little spoon position between him and the dirty fabric of the back seat.

“I hate you,” she muttered as she shoved him this way and that until she was on his chest. One of his feet landed on the floor, the other was bent up on the seat.

“Well, well, Ms. Cooper. If I’d known that you just wanted to get on top of me, we could have gotten all of this banter out of the way ages ago.”

The elbow she threw into his ribs winded him. As he wheezed she settled in. “I hate you for way more than that. Now shut up, and sleep.”

All snuggled together with the snow falling quietly around them, it didn’t take much time at all.

++++++++++

“Betts, wake up. I have service.”

She tried to figure out what time it was by peering out a window, only to find all of them covered in a thick blanket of white. There was obviously sun peeking out making them glow a bit, but she couldn’t even tell how deep it was.

“What time is it?” She didn’t bother to push herself into an upright position. She was still comfortable and warm.

“Seven, which is still too fucking early as far as I’m- Hello? Yes. I’m looking for tow service off of I-40. Betty, can you get out and see what mile marker we’re at?”

She unhappily complied with his request. It took a mighty shove to get the door open. It was no wonder why no one had stopped to help them in the night. From the highway, it was nearly impossible to make out the form of the car under the fluff. She spotted the sign and relayed back to Jughead.

The crisp cool air felt nice against her cheek. It was cold, but barely at freezing. With a little sunshine the snow would probably start to thaw.

“ARE YOU SERIOUS?”

Betty continued to appreciate the sight of a still, glittering world as Jughead yelled into his cell.

“It’ll be another 2 hours.” He told her with an angry stretch of his back. “I see you’re feeling well this morning. I, on the other hand, am cramped to hell.”

Betty slumped a little, “Can’t you enjoy anything? It’s beautiful out here!”

“It may look beautiful to you, but to me it looks like another day on the road and away from family.”

She looked him up and down. Flush with anger was a good look on him. He’d changed into a red flannel shirt that was giving her major lumberjack feelings.

“I wouldn’t have pegged you as a family guy.”

“Oh, I can’t wait to hear the logic on this one.”

“Come on!” Betty stomped her way back through the drifts toward him. “You hounded my family and I for months about everything Black Hood related. You were relentless! I figured a family oriented person would have less free time or more compassion.”

“I was not relentless.” She had to force herself not to laugh as he tried to shake out the snow that had fallen into his boot. “Your Mom handed me three file folders a week after I met her and told me she’d washed her hands of the whole thing. Polly told me everything she knew the minute I came to town. Granted, it wasn’t much because that girl has a hard time paying attention to anything that isn’t herself or her boyfriend. You want to blame someone for my extended stay? Blame yourself.”

“Why? Because I didn’t want to talk about it with a stranger? Because I wanted to tell my own story?”

“You could have! Your story could have been right there next to theirs if you hadn’t been so damn stubborn!”

“There you go again, calling me the stubborn one! You’re the one who asked me over and over for an interview. You’re the one who just had to come along on this trip. Why couldn’t you just be satisfied with one book? If you want to be home for Christmas so badly why not join me afterward, or have me email my notes?”

“You  _ really _ want to know why I’m on this wreck of a trip?”

“Yes, Jughead, I  _ really _ do.”

He collapsed his arms helplessly at his sides. “It’s because of you, Betty. I went to Riverdale because that’s where my parents are from and they grew up with Hal. Your father killed people. He ended people’s lives. People were fascinated by his story. But him, your mom, your sister. None of them were half as interesting as you. I didn’t want to hear about Hal’s life from your point of view. I just wanted to learn about you.”

All she could do was blink and rub her chilling arms. “Me? But I haven’t done anything.”

He took a big step forward crunching down into the snow. “You have though. Everyone else was too caught up in themselves to even notice what was going on, but you did. You noticed and you stopped him. And now you’re out here again trying to put more people to rest. I couldn’t believe that first book became a bestseller. It’s nothing without you in it.”

She stepped forward too, leaving only a few inches of space between them. “I thought you hated me.”

“I don’t hate you. I just don’t know how to get you to stop hating me.”

“I don’t hate you either. I just didn’t understand.”

Jughead slid just a little closer. “I don’t think I could ever hate someone as good as you are.”

She watched his gaze dart from her eyes down to her lips and back again as she breathed puffs of fog into the space between them. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it sounds like you might even like me.”

His fingers were as cold as ice cupping her face, but she didn’t mind, because his lips were warm and smooth. After a few moments of soft kisses she broke into happy giggles.

“Yeah, you definitely like me.”

He matched her smile. “Yeah, well you like me too.”

“The tow truck won’t be here for another hour and a half or so, right?” Betty asked mischievously.

Jughead checked his phone. “Yep, and that’s if they’re on time. Why?”

She laced their hands together. “Then we should probably get back in the car and find a way to share body heat. And Jughead? Happy Christmas Eve.”

He chuckled, “I think I can be okay with missing spending the holidays with my family if I can spend them like this, with you.”

She opened the door and pushed him onto his back across the seats. “I think that this could be the start of an amazing tradition.”

  
  



End file.
